50. Farewell

"What? You're leaving?" the brunette said with shock written all over his face. The older teen nodded; frowning. "My grandfather said that I'm not getting enough training; that I'm getting rusty. He wants me to go to the mountains to hone my skills-"

"But you...you can't just leave! What about..." he hesitated; thinking of something that could bind him back here besides..."school? You can't just drop out-"

"My grandfather already made arrangements with the principal. He said that I won't be attending this school anymore."

All Dan could do was gape. "B-but..."

"We both don't know how long I'm going to stay up there, so he got the safest choice. When I return, I have to transfer." suddenly, the bell rang, signaling for all students to go back to their classrooms. Without another word, Shun turned away and was about to walk until the younger teen grabbed his shoulder. "When are you leaving?" he asked as if it was the most important thing in the world. The brunette knew that his grandfather wouldn't bid him goodbye or anything; he'll be going on it all alone. He wanted to be there for him. At least this one time because ever since they were little, Shun had always been out there to protect him no matter what. Maybe he could help him out with many other things for the next few days; to help him get ready-

"...tomorrow. I...I have to go by tomorrow morning."

-o-

It was never Dan's style to wake up at four in the morning, but this was important. Really important. So important that he would skip the first few periods of school just to do this. Or to be absent; he didn't really care. Jumping out of bed and fighting his drowsiness, he grabbed his clothes and freshened up quickly. After buttoning his plain red collared shirt, he was about to go out of the door until he remembered something. He swiftly ran back to his desk, picked up a small item with his hand and placed it in his pocket. He didn't want to forget this. If he did, then going through all those shops yesterday would have been meaningless.

Silently, he went downstairs and opened the door. The morning was terribly cold, but that didn't mind him. It was still dark out, really dark; but he could already see the sky's color changing from the darkest blue to something lighter. Day was coming, and he knew very well that Shun would be gone by then.

Taking his bike, he quickly started to peddle and stay on the open road. The brunette was glad to have grabbed the scarf before he left because the wind was chilling and it made his teeth chatter. The teen clenched the thick scarf with his hand as he struggled to keep himself warm. He had an hour before he would reach the mountain path. At this speed, it would take him around that time to get there. He could feel himself going faster and faster; as if lost in time. The only thing Dan was really focused on was to keep on moving.

Pretty soon, the houses around him faded and the only thing he could see were open meadows. There were few trees around, but they gradually began to multiply as he went farther and farther from his home. He knew that he had passed Shun's house by now; which meant that he was getting close. There was only one mountain near the area, and that's where they were going. He would meet him there; no matter how much the raven-haired male said he didn't want to. Dan refused obviously; who would want to ignore your best friend leaving you for who knows how long?

It was not long after the fog around him dispersed and he rested on loamy soil. Plants were everywhere; the placed looked like a nature wonderland. From here, the brunette placed his bike on a nearby tree and went on by foot. He didn't even decide to rest for a bit, especially when he realized the sky above him was now blue instead of black.

It was probably around five am now.

Dan continued to trudge on until the road he stepped on started to become rocky. Soon, the trees around him disappeared, and he could see now a wide open path to the higher parts of the mountain.

Surprisingly, there was a figure waiting there; crossing his arms. "Shun?"

"I knew you would come." he said while closing his eyes. He was in his usual ninja garb; only it looked more suited for colder areas. He had a small backpack, but the younger teen didn't see any signs of a sleeping bag or other things for a camp anywhere. "This is also part of my training Dan. I have to use the resources around me for me to survive out in the open."

The brunette pushed away the fact that it was creepy yet usual that he knew what he was thinking and went closer to him. "Do you...really have to go?"

"...for the thousandth time, yes." the older teen replied with a tiny smirk.

Dan didn't seem so amused though. "Why can't you just train back at home? Why all the way out here?"

He looked hesitant to answer. "Grandfather never told me, but I think I know the reason." Shun sighed. "He thinks I'm getting too distracted. Remember before he hated it that I was playing Bakugan all the time and not training? I think it's the same thing, only..."

"Only what?"

"...that life other than being a ninja is now the distraction."

It took a few seconds for Shun's words to sink in to the young teen. "Wait, he thinks that I'm interfering with your training?"

"Along with everything else, yes." they were both still for a few moments.

"And you can't go against him?"

"How could I? He took me in when my mother died. I just...can't. I can't use Bakugan anymore to escape; I realized afterwards that I was just a coward when I was trying to do that. But now, I don't have any options. It's either I go along with this or I'll probably never see you again. Or the world that is."

"Shun..."

"I promise I'll be back as soon as I can. I'll try every day even if it kills me to master this technique. If I can do that, I can go back to the city-"

"Hey, don't go too far okay? I won't forgive you if you hurt yourself just to come back." he said; small tears forming.

The raven-haired male smirked. "Are you crying?"

"N-no! I...I just have something in my eye!" he retorted quickly. Out of the blue, Shun patted him on the shoulder; a sign of showing reassurance in his case. "It's not like I'm going to be gone forever."

"To me it will." the brunette mumbled with a sob. The ninja frowned; he never thought that it would hurt him this badly. And then Dan did the most unexpected thing Shun thought of, he hugged him. "I'll miss you." it took a few moments before he could place his own arms around the younger teen. "Me too." he replied softly. In truth, the raven-haired male missed the familiar feeling of being hugged as well. The last he ever did so was before his mother died, and that had been a long time ago. He never bothered to show any affection to his grandfather, besides, it was a sign of weakness to him. The feeling of having someone he truly cared for in his arms nearly brought him to tears. But he fought it back; knowing that if he did, Dan would cry even more. And that was the last thing he would want. He didn't want to make the goodbye even harder as it is.

What felt like minutes but only seconds later, they let go of each other and said their final goodbyes. Before long, Shun turned and was about to leave until he stopped him; just like the other day. "Promise that you'll return soon alright?"

"Of course-"

"Promise?" there was a short silence between them. Shun could already see a six-year-old Dan holding out his finger to him. The very first time he remembered. With a smile, he shook on it. "Promise."

-o-

Shun looked up at the star-lit sky with a frown. It was only his first night on the mountain and he already felt...home-sick. Turning his attention away from the sky and the lit campfire in front of him, all he needed to do was sleep and prepare for the first day of training tomorrow. He spent the entire day just gathering food, looking for a near and safe water source and a place to camp out. He knew the dangers; there were wild animals around here; more active at night. But he planned to sleep on a tree tonight; out of harm's reach. With all that done, he had a lot of time to think about what happened that morning.

The ninja sighed knowing that lingering on the topic too much wouldn't help him focus. After all, the faster he's done with this, the faster he can get back home. He was about to stand up until he heard something fall out of his pocket. The teen found it strange since he didn't recall placing anything in there...

"What the..?" he picked up the small object and recognized it almost immediately. It was a piece of candy; but it wasn't just any candy. It was the candy that he and Dan fought over all those years ago. The reason how they met in the first place. He couldn't help but grin at the sight of it, and then he noticed there was a note hanging on it. The hand-writing was all too familiar to the fifteen-year-old.

'I still remember that I owe you candy

so don't forget me alright?'

Out of the blue, Shun laughed; a cheerful one that shattered the silence of the woods behind him. "What makes you think I'll forget you?" he muttered to no one in particular. He looked up again with a grin; this time he was filled with a sense of gratitude and determination. "But seriously Dan...thanks. For everything."

A/N : This is...probably the longest chapter in the series. Anyway guys, this really means a lot to me. Because well, this is the first fic I finished that's really long and stuff. I am really going to miss this. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this and reviewing and all the favorites and stuff. Man, I'm gonna cry here...oh wait, I'm not. But man I kept on squealing as I wrote this. I told you it's epic fluff! But maybe I went a little too overboard. Hehe.

Seriously, thank you all. Please review? This is the last time! Augh, I'm running out of things to say. Other than you should really try imagining the last one while using 'Sympathy' from Pokemon Mystery Dungeon : Explorers of Sky as the BGM. I tried, and man it suited so well for some reason. Those who got their DS's and finished the game, listen to it! It's really good!...I think.

Okay, I'll stop rambling. I can't show enough gratitude to all of you...*sniff*